


Backseat Serenade

by brutesa



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Werewolves, M/M, liam is scott's step-brother, liam's an oblivious (edgy) shithead, theo is in pining HELL, theo&scott&stiles are BFFS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-27
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2019-07-03 10:57:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 13,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15817491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brutesa/pseuds/brutesa
Summary: “Theo?I’m not going to homecoming with Theo Raeken.”Liam stops his freak-out early once he notices the guilty smile Mason's sending over his shoulder. Slowly, Liam turns-- praying to every god imaginable that the person behind him is Corey.It’s Theo, because of course it is.He has one eyebrow raised, lunch tray gripped in his hands. His eyes flick from Mason’s to Liam’s in an instant, and all of a sudden Liam’s face begins to heat up. “We weren’t talking about you,” He blurts out, maybe a tad bit too loud.





	1. Chapter 1

Hayden breaks up with Liam on a Monday.

She doesn’t want to lead him on, because apparently her feelings for him aren’t as strong as his for her-- or something along those lines. Liam hadn’t _really_ been listening, too preoccupied with willing himself not to break down, eyes stinging. He won’t cry. He _won’t_. He's not like that, not to mention they're inside a fucking  _McDonalds_.

Hayden kisses him on the cheek before departing, as though she had the _right_ after breaking up with him, killing all the good they’ve had. Distantly, Liam knows he’s overreacting. But his emotions are getting the best of him at the moment, and he suddenly really wants to punch something.

He does, once Hayden’s gone and Liam’s left alone in the cold. He's already outside, so all Liam really has to do is stalk up to the nearest wall and throw a punch at the brick. The hard surface has a texture that busts up his fists, turning them into a torn up, bloody mess. But he doesn’t stop, because that feeling is _still in his chest_ , and with each punch it pushes against his skin, as though it’s going to spring from his ribcage at any moment.

“Do you know how many people bang against that wall? You’re going to get an STD.”

When Liam turns at the voice, it’s Theo, who’s sitting inside his old, shitty truck, halfway down the drive-thru lane. He has an elbow out the window as he smirks, looking all too smug. The worst part about his statement is that he’s not… wrong. Liam _did_ go around back, near the employee door, where it’s been said drunk people do the nasty because they're not allowed inside the building.

Whatever. Liam shoves his hands into his pockets as he stalks in the opposite direction of Theo’s truck, hissing to himself when his knuckles collide with the harsh fabric of his windbreaker. Fortunately, Theo lets him leave, not calling out once as Liam walks away, down the sidewalk in the direction of his home. Or, apparently not. A few minutes pass before the old truck slows down beside Liam again, window rolling down as Theo shouts, “Get in.”

“Fuck _off_ ,” Liam tries to yell, but his voice breaks. Embarrassing...

“I got you food,” Theo tries, “So _get in_ or I’ll eat it myself.”

Hesitantly, Liam pauses and glances over. He narrows his eyes, “If I get in, promise you won’t talk to me?”

“My lips are sealed,” Theo replies, reaching over to open the door for him.

Again, Liam hesitates because he really doesn’t want to be around anyone right now. Especially Theo Raeken, who he only knows distantly through his step-brother Scott and has never had, like, a _one-on-one_ conversation with until now.

But it’s pretty cold outside, Liam begins to realize, and he has a fifteen-minute walk ahead of him if he doesn’t choose to get into the vehicle. So, Liam grits his teeth and climbs inside.

 

-

 

Theo keeps up his end of the bargain, silent as he shoves the hot paper bag full of food onto Liam’s lap. The dude doesn’t even glance over once, eyes trained ahead as he pulls back onto the deserted road.

Liam digs into the bag, coming out with a Big Mac box before setting the bag down at his feet. True to his word, Theo still doesn’t talk, even though Liam’s staring at him, eyes still narrowed as he takes a bite of the burger. Who _is_ this kid? Does he stalk the streets of Beacon Hills, looking for emotional people to pick up?

“Why were you out?” Liam asks through a bite.

Already studying Theo’s face, Liam doesn’t miss the way his nose wrinkles in disgust, most likely because Liam just spoke with his mouth full. Other than that, Theo doesn't move a muscle, lips pressed together.

“You can talk if I ask you a question,” Liam presses once he’s swallowed.

The outcome is the same, even with the permission. It’s pissing Liam off, now, but they’re already pulling up outside the McCall household-- Theo breaking so quick that Liam _swears_ he gets whiplash. He complains about it, of course, as he unbuckles and gets out of the car, slamming the door in his wake.

 

-

 

“Was that Theo?” Scott asks as he unlocks the door for Liam, eyebrows drawn together in a look that’s pure confusion.

“I guess,” Liam shrugs, pushing past him to get into the warm house. He’s quick to toe off his shoes, careful to hide his knuckles as he spews out a, “ _Goodnight_ ,” before retreating through the kitchen and down the stairs to the basement.

The smell that can only be described as, well, _basement_ is one that Liam’s gotten used to ever since he and his father moved into the house last summer. Last summer, when Liam was so, _so_ angry about his parent’s divorce. Back when he was ecstatic about having to room in the basement because apparently Scott’s friend Isaac lived in the spare room that _should’ve_ been Liam’s.

Now, living two floors beneath everyone else just feels lonely, the novelty completely gone.

 

-

 

“Wait, sorry, did you say _Theo Raeken_ bought you… food?” Mason asks, blinking owlishly through Liam’s laptop screen.

It’s later, when they’re working together through Skype to finish Liam’s cell diagram for science class. Or, Liam’s assembling it while Mason tells him where to put everything. Mason's help is put on paused, though, because the events of that night had accidentally gotten spewed.

“He _kidnapped_ me,” Liam grunts, peeling dried glue off his fingers.

“Yeah, okay,” Mason snorts, “It _totally_ sounds like a true abduction—"

“And why are you focusing on that? Hayden just _broke up with me!_ Four days before homecoming! _”_

An intake of breath through the teeth sounds through the laptop’s shitty speaker, “Sorry, man.”

Mason is so obviously _not_ sorry, because Liam knows his best friend’s never liked Hayden, not really. But he’s trying for Liam’s sake, so that counts. “Yeah,” Liam tries to smile, but it only comes out as a grimace, "Thanks. Hey, look--"

He places the last bit of construction paper and holds up the finished product for Mason to see, grinning for real when the other boy holds two thumbs up.


	2. Chapter 2

The bad luck streak follows Liam into the next morning, when his alarm doesn’t go off until thirty minutes _after_ it’d been set. He’s stuck panicking, dressing quickly and bolting up the stairs in hopes to catch his dad before he’d leave for work.

Times like this, Liam wishes his family would actually notice when he’s not around. (At least then he wouldn’t be up late, or even need an alarm clock at all. _Scott_ doesn’t even own one, as Melissa always wakes him up.) (Liam’s grown to not envy him. Or not envy him _as much_ , anymore.)

Everyone’s gone, even Isaac, but it seems like Scott’s running late, too. With a grin that’s way too bright for the hour, he offers Liam a drive. Knowing one more tardy would get him pout into in-school suspension, Liam accepts.

“Hey!” Stiles shouts when they climb into the jeep, then follows his greeting with the gossip he’s collected over the weekend. Liam tunes him out, not caring much for drama that doesn’t involve him. Or drama in general, really.

He’ll hear it all later, anyway. Mason loves to gossip during chem.

It’s not until Liam’s all buckled in, balancing his project on his lap when he realizes he’s not alone in the backseat. Theo’s sitting next to him, holding a coffee and looking at Liam with an eyebrow raised, as though he’s some sort of alien.

“Hi?” Liam says slowly.

“Hi,” Theo replies, voice husky as though he’s just woken up.

Homecoming in three days,” Stiles shouts, louder than he probably should’ve in the small, enclosed space, “Who are we taking boys? I, for one, have convinced Lydia that I would be a _great_ rebound after Jackson. Or, I _will_ convince her. Today. After school, because she gets out of her debate thing at the same time as lacrosse practice ends…”

Liam stares out his window, tuning Stiles out as he so often does. _Homecoming_ , once an event Liam had looked foreword to, now just another reminder that he’s just gotten broken up with and won’t have a plus one to _anything_ anymore.

A few fingers jab painfully into Liam’s ribs and he jolts, sending a withering glare in Theo’s direction. The other boy is unphased as he asks, “Who are you going with?”

“Nobody,” Liam looks away as he says so, embarrassed. Theo, like Scott, likely had a hot girlfriend he was going to bring. Or if he didn’t, he could just pick one from the many that throw themselves at his feet. Either or.

Stiles gives him a puzzled look through the rear-view mirror and Liam sighs quietly, because he’s forgotten that the news of his newfound single-ness hasn’t reached anyone’s ears but his own. Scott spins in his seat, looking into the back with his eyebrows furrowed, “What about Hayden?”

Liam feels himself bristle and looks away, out at the passing scenery as he shrugs his shoulders. “Broke up,” is all he says, attempting to sound nonchalant about it all, despite the way his heart _hurts_.

Up front, Stiles bares his teeth in a grimace, “Yikes. She couldn’t have waited until _after_ the dance?”

“Why do you think _she_ broke up with me?” Liam narrows his eyes.

When all Stiles does is raise an eyebrow, Scott snorts and says, “You were gushing over her at the lunch table yesterday, dude.”

“Not exactly the mindset of _breaking up_ ,” Stiles agrees.

Although the urge to kick the back of their seats is strong, Liam relents. He falls silent, leaning back as far into his seat as he could, gritting his teeth as he chants in his head _five more minutes until we get to school. Five more minutes, five more minutes—_

 

-

 

“Are you still going to homecoming?” Is Mason’s greeting, because apparently the universe hates Liam, or something.

“No,” He replies, maybe slamming his locker closed with an unnecessary amount of aggression. Mason doesn’t mention it, though— just lingers close to Liam as they walk to first period.

The silence doesn’t last between them, because Mason shutting up is just time he’s taken to _think_. Which, although he’s smart and the list of _good ideas_ he’s had overrides the bad ones, there _have_ been bad ones. All of which have to do with _Liam_ and _relationships_.

“Maybe you should ask someone else—”

“No.”

“—and make Hayden jealous.”

Liam blinks, then blinks once more. The idea isn’t… horrible. He glances over as they enter the classroom, revels in the way his friend’s brain works sometimes. With a grin, Mason sits in his assigned seat, giving Liam a wink.

The idea in itself is great, Liam believes, but the execution? Not as much. To make Hayden jealous, he’d need another girl to ask out, and more importantly, one that would say _yes_. There isn’t really a line-up of those in Liam’s life.

“So why not go with a guy?” Mason asks at lunch, as if Liam would actually do that.

“I’m not into guys?” Liam reaches over to grab a handful of fries.

“But you’re into Hayden,” With quick reflexes, Mason yanks his tray back and away from greedy fingers, “and if no girls want to go with you, I will.”

Liam snorts, then deadpans, “ _Great idea,”_ because he’s not _that_ desperate. Besides, Corey would probably kill him. Not in a literal sense, but with his _eyes_ , all sad and shit. Liam doesn’t need that on his conscience. Ever.

“What about Theo?”

It takes a moment for Liam to spit out a sentence, sputtering for a quick moment before nearly shouting, “Theo? _I’m not going to homecoming with Theo Raeken.”_

Liam stops his freak-out early once he notices the guilty smile Mason's sending over his shoulder. Slowly, Liam turns-- praying to every god imaginable that the person behind him is Corey.

It’s Theo, because of course it is.

He has one eyebrow raised, lunch tray gripped in his hands. His eyes flick from Mason’s to Liam’s in an instant, and all of a sudden Liam’s face begins to heat up. “We weren’t talking about you,” He blurts out, maybe a tad bit too loud.

Finally, Theo’s lips curl into a smirk, obviously amused. He sets his tray down on the table, sliding into the seat next to Liam. _Way too close_ , in his opinion. Their legs are practically touching.

“What about homecoming?” Theo asks, prompting Liam to glance up from the space between them, or lack thereof.

“Huh?”

“Liam wants to make Hayden jealous,” Mason explains simply, “and he needs a date in order for the plan to work.”

Theo’s jaw ticks, and although the look on his face doesn’t faulter, the glint in his eye disappears. He shifts over slightly so he’s not as close to Liam. “Okay,” He says, “Then Liam needs to ask me.”

Liam narrows his eyes, “I don’t even _want_ to go with you.”

“Okay,”

Theo stands to leave and Liam’s perfectly okay with letting him go, but Mason sends him a _look_. It’s one that’s clearly insulting, like _he’s your last resort, you loser._ So, reluctantly, Liam pushes all dignity he has and shoots out an arm, catching Theo’s sleeve between his fingers, mumbling, “Wanna go to homecoming?”

“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

Liam really, _really_ wants to punch him. Instead, he just takes a deep breath and grits out, “Will you go to homecoming? With me?”

That damned smirk is back, but it’s the wicked one that Liam’s seen flashed to a million different people a million different times. It’s not the teasing one. It’s the one that screams _go burn yourself_. “No,” Is all Theo says, stalking off for his usual table.

 

-

 

As expected, Mason goes back on his word to go with Liam, not even hesitating to say yes when Corey asks him out. It shouldn’t upset him, but Liam still pouts a little bit. The plan is officially dead. It’s homecoming night, they’re all packing into Mason’s mom’s car and _the plan is officially dead_.

Going to this dance is boring, Liam finds after ten minutes of being in the building. He’s stuck in a suit that feels too tight, nursing fruit punch that isn’t even spiked, watching Hayden slow dance with Nolan, who’s apparently her date for tonight. Figures. Liam assumes she agreed out of pity, ‘cause no offence, but who wants to go with _Nolan?_

He leaves early. As in, he waits a few more minutes in boredom before escaping out the side door, into the cold November air that bites at him through his jacket. The moon is high in the sky and Liam glares at it, silently cursing the universe for being such a bitch to him.

“Did you actually think it would work?”

The voice spooks Liam so much he turns swinging, fist colliding with the person’s face. Liam’s ‘attacker’, who’s actually Theo, stumbles back, glaring through watering eyes before jumping foreword, getting Liam back.

He punches hard. _Hard_ , as in Liam’s nose is bleeding profusely as he catches himself before falling. They’re glaring at each other, both in various amount of pain, as though this is some sort of showdown— when in reality they’re two losers standing outside in the middle of November, freezing their asses off.

“What,” Liam shouts, “the _fuck?”_

“You punched me.”

“You snuck up on me!” He kicks loose gravel at Theo, “I had a reason to punch you!”

“I _walked out the door_ ,” Theo snaps back, hissing when he touches his cheekbone, “If I get a black eye, you’re _dead_ , Dunbar.”

Liam just rolls his eyes, raising a hand up to inspect the damage Theo’s done to his nose. Pain ripples through his face at the contact and he hisses quietly, gritting his teeth as his fingers come back covered in blood. It’s dripping down his face, the disgusting metallic taste assaulting Liam’s tongue when he opens his mouth to growl a short, “ _Whatever_ ,” at the empty threat.

When he looks at Theo next, the boy’s jaw is ticked, but his face is portraying the same look Scott’s does when Isaac doesn’t answer his texts. There’s no malice there—not anymore— just a stare that makes Liam want to squirm.

“ _What?”_

“I think I broke your nose,” Theo shrugs, as though it’s commonplace. As though he’s speaking of the weather instead of the harm he’s done. His voice sounds slightly strung out, though.

“No shit,” Liam steps back as the other boy steps foreword, “What are you doing?”

He jumps back again, but Theo’s hands grip the sides of his face and Liam’s mind _blanks_. There are hands on either side of his jaw and he almost thinks Theo’s gonna _kiss him_ until suddenly the other boy moves swiftly, hands coming up and _snapping his nose_.

Liam shouts, swinging again, but Theo expects it and dodges the blow.

“I set your nose back, idiot,” He sneers down at Liam, as though he’s stupid, “Don’t go all apeshit on someone who’s trying to _help_.”

“ _You’re_ the one who broke it in the first place—!”

Slowly, Liam tilts his head up in an attempt to stop the bleeding. That’s when blood drops land on his cheek, and he soon realizes through punching Theo, the scabs on his knuckles had broken and they’re bleeding now, too.

Admitting defeat, Liam shoves past Theo and goes back inside. Nobody really notices him as he shoves through the student body in the direction of the closest bathroom, hoping to god Hayden doesn’t catch him like this.

His luck is apparently restored, as he gets to the washroom without being stopped by anyone he knows. Liam tugs a wad of paper towel from the dispenser, holding the dry paper to his nose, glaring at himself in the mirror. Bruising his already beginning to take place, dark purples and greens around his eyes and over his nose. He looks _ugly_.

Liam groans in frustration as the door swings open, allowing Theo to slip inside the washroom. He takes back his luck comment, because it certainly is _not_ restored. Not by a _long_ shot.

“You should go home,” Theo says.

“No shit,” Liam turns from the mirror, back pressing into the sink behind him as he stares at his new stalker, or whatever Theo was now— certainly not a friend. “Can you go away?”

The other boy just crosses his arm against his chest, head tilted to the side as he studies Liam. Liam, who’s bleeding from two spots, a steady flow that doesn’t feel as though it’ll ever stop. Liam, who doesn’t even want to _be here_ , especially when his ex is getting close to the kid who kicked the shit out of him.

He sighs, then, suddenly feeling _so tired_. Liam just wants to go home, slink into the basement and nurse himself back to normal, maybe sleep the remainder of the weekend away. “ _Please_.”

For a moment, Theo looks visibly startled. But it seems to have worked as he leaves, but not without another look thrown over his shoulder.

This one, Liam is too exhausted to decipher.


	3. Chapter 3

The scrapes across Liam’s knuckles heal for the most part over the next few days, the bigger wounds scabbing over. His nose, however, is a different story. The bruising underneath his eyes, although lighter than it had been previously, is now a nasty brown colour, still lightly dusted with purple.

Liam manages to make it three days until his family finally notices. And when they do, all hell breaks loose.

Melissa slips into nurse-mode, grabbing his jaw with one hand, all gentle in a way that screams _don’t-move-or-else_. She’s in the middle of inspecting when Liam’s father walks in, who automatically begins to fret over his son. Then, to make matters worse, _Scott_ comes in, Isaac trailing behind like a little puppy. All of a sudden, _they_ get up in Liam’s face, asking _who did this?_ as though they’d actually do something about it.

 _Your best friend_ , Liam thinks about sneering at Scott.

“I don’t know,” He shrugs instead, feigning ignorance, “Someone elbowed me at homecoming.”

That seems to set them off even worse.

“It’s been like this for _three days?”_ Melissa’s eyebrows are furrowed now, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

There’s an urge, then, to shove the woman away from his personal space— bark out something harsh because she’s asking why he never told anyone, as though she actually cares. As though he’s not still living underneath them all, while Isaac, who’s not even _blood,_ gets a room upstairs.

More than anything, he wants to say, _I live here, why didn’t_ you _notice I was hurt?_

“I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

 

-

 

Liam’s laptop is old and beginning to lag, but it’s not like he has a job, so getting a new one was off the table. He’s also never going to ask his father for money, or Melissa. Not that he’d get belittled, in fact he’d more than likely get the money, no questions asked. But when Liam thinks about asking, he feels _uncomfortable_.

It takes forever to boot up, then another couple minutes to pull Skype up. Once he’s logged in, the familiar calling song spews from his speakers and seconds after hitting _accept_ , Mason’s face is on his screen.

“I’ve made a list,” Liam’s best friend says.

Liam carries the laptop over to the bed, climbing over to sit up against the headboard. As he’s getting himself situated, Mason seems to take the time to explain just what kind of list he’s made.

“So, I was thinking, and if you could get Hayden, then you could totally get another girl. Probably. So, I went through the girls who you could, potentially, ask out.”

“You’re oddly obsessed with this,” Liam replies dryly.

“I think I’m just bored?” Mason blinks, “I don’t have any homework and Corey is busy, so—”

“Alright, whatever. Who’s on the list?”

“Okay, so— _uhm_. Liam?”

“What?”

Suddenly the bed dips down as feet collide with the mattress right next to him. Liam doesn’t shout, he _doesn’t_. There’s no time to be scared of whoever just _climbed through his fucking window_ , because Stiles is already jumping across Liam to land on the floor, talking—

“Sorry, the ladder wasn’t in the backyard, so we couldn’t get into Scott’s room. Hey, you have a _Warcraft_ poster? That’s so cool, dude! Do you play?”

Theo’s climbing through the other window, landing on Liam’s desk.

“We should— _woah!_ You have some serious bruising—”

Stiles reaches forewords and Liam winces prematurely, _waiting_ for the touch. But it doesn’t come. When Liam’s eyes fly back open, Theo’s got his fingers wrapped around Stiles’ wrist, yanking him back. “You’ll just re-break his nose.”

“What? _No, I wouldn’t_ ,” Stiles claims, taking his arm back, “You gotta admit, it looks _bad_.”

“Thanks,” Liam deadpans, mouthing, _“Talk to you later,”_ to Mason before ending their call _._

“So,” Theo speaks up, cutting off whatever Stiles is about to say, “this is your room.”

He’s near Liam’s bookshelf, now— finger trailing across the spines of various novels. Gingerly, Theo picks up a small ceramic wolf figurine that’s sat on a shelf, painted by a much younger Liam in a bunch of different colors. His lips twitch as he sets it back down.

Realizing he hasn’t gotten an answer, Theo glances over. Liam blinks at the sudden eye contact and blurts out, “Good observation,” for lack of anything else to say.

For lack of anything better to do, Liam clicks on the google chrome shortcut, deciding to just scroll down Facebook for a distraction. It’s better than watching his step-brother’s best friend ruffle through his things.

It loads up quickly, a feat for his laptop. Liam shuffles further up the bed, releaning against the headboard as he begins his journey through the depths of his newsfeed.

Suddenly, Theo’s falling into the spot next to Liam, peering at the screen. “Facebook stalking Lydia Martin? Really?”

“Wha— _no_. I wasn’t— _I was just scrolling_ —” Liam’s stammering. When his eyes flick over towards Theo, he’s met with a grin. “You’re such a dickhead.”

“It’s a full-time job,” Theo’s eyes are crinkled at the edges from the smile, Liam notices easily from this close.

Then, upon realizing he’s staring, Liam looks back to the redhead on the screen, “Did Lydia say yes to Stiles?”

“Liam,” Theo’s voice causes him to glance back over, “Do you _think_ Lydia said yes?”

“I mean—” Liam starts, then decides to rephrase. His tongue drags across his bottom lip as he thinks his words over carefully, then asks, “Is this a trick question? Are you going to get angry if I talk shit about your friend?”

Theo’s eyes are cast down as Liam speaks. Then he startles, slightly, when Liam nudges him for an answer. “What?”

“I asked—”

“Can you hurry up and stop harassing Liam?” Stiles is suddenly letting himself back inside the room. Liam hadn’t even realized he left— “If Scott’s mom catches us when she specifically said we _couldn’t_ come over, she’ll be mad, dude.”

Theo glances away from Liam, “Yeah, yeah,” he grumbles, standing up. He turns back to Liam, “Goodbye, stalker.”

“Ha ha,” Liam deadpans, flipping him off as the door closes.


	4. Chapter 4

A few days pass before Mason’s list is brought up again.

They’re lounging around in Liam’s room, marathoning the original _Star Wars_ movies on Corey’s laptop, because Liam’s computer’s DVD slide doesn’t even open. It’s late and Liam and Corey are both dozing off when Mason suddenly sits up, shouting, “ _The list!”_

“Shut up,” Liam groans, rubbing his eyes as he raises, nearly toppling off the bed in the process.

“It’s only ten o’clock,” Mason replies, fingers tapping across his phone screen, “So _wake up_ , I’m only going to read this once.”

Corey doesn’t sit up, just rests his cheek on Mason’s thigh, glancing up at the other boy. With an eyeroll, Liam slides off the bed, standing and stretching out his back. They’re on the last movie and have been in the same positions since the first one.

“In _‘will probably say yes’_ , we have Gwen from Chem. Then in _‘will probably say no, but it’s worth a shot’_ is Malia Tate and Cora Hale. Then there’s Tracy Stewart, who’s really popular but, like, seems like she has low self-esteem? So maybe she’d say yes.”

“Low self-esteem,” Liam grumbles dryly, “Great to know girls have to hate themselves to be with me.”

“Gwen is cute,” Corey hums.

“Your list sucks, Mason,” Liam says as he crosses the room, “I’m going to the washroom, and when I get back, we’re not going to talk about girls, okay?”

He doesn’t wait for a reply, just slips out of his room and up the stairs, hoping that leaving those two in his room won’t result in Liam walking in on a makeout session when he gets back.

Upstairs, Scott’s group of friends are sitting around the coffee table in the livingroom, playing what looks to be a game of monopoly. Liam manages to sneak past undetected until he’s passing by the second time, when he gets waved over to be temporary banker while Isaac goes to get drinks.

“What are you guys doing down there?” Scott asks as Stiles rolls the dice, jumping two spots on the board.

“Watching _Star Wars_ ,” Liam replies, distributing change when Stiles buys the property he’s landed on, “Or, we _were_ , but apparently Mason’s made it his problem to get me a new girlfriend. He made a list and everything.”

“Scott,” Stiles shouts, startling all the boys, “Why don’t you help me get girls?”

“I tried to set you up with Malia!” Scott says as he plays his turn, “Remember? You never even asked her out, dude!”

“Oh my _god_ , that’s because Malia _likes you_.”

“You’re on the rebound,” Theo, who has been silent all this time, says quietly as the other two bicker, “They should give you a break.”

Liam gives him a small smile that he hopes conveys appreciation. In case it doesn’t, he sneaks a few hundred-dollar bills underneath the table.

“So,” Scott ducks out of his previous conversation, “Who was on the list?”

“Uhm,” Liam shrugs, “ _Malia_ , Cora Hale, Gwen, um, the one from my Chem class? I don’t know her last name. And Tracy Stewart.”

Theo bristles at the last one, and Stiles barks out a laugh that’s way too loud. “ _Tracy, huh?”_

“Shut _up_ ,” is the reply he receives from Theo, who spits the words out between grit teeth.

“What’s wrong with Tracy?” Liam asks, narrowing his eyes.

“Nothing’s _wrong_ with her, man,” Although he’s not laughing out loud like Stiles, Scott has laughter in his eyes, “She’s just the one who triggered Theo’s sexuality crisis.”

Liam blinks, eyes flicking over to Theo, “Sexuality--?”

“Hey,” Isaac’s suddenly behind Liam, hands full with drinks. Quickly, Liam jumps up and out of the way and gets a small smile for his effort. It appears the game resumes after that as though it was never interrupted.

Then Stiles is suddenly raising his voice like _Isaac, is this_ diet _coke?_ To which Scott furrows his brows in a way that says, _Why are you yelling at Isaac?_ , and suddenly it’s a big thing, so Liam slinks away slowly.

 _Theo_ and _sexuality crisis_ are words that bump about in his brain all the way to the basement, where Liam throws open his bedroom door and asks, “ _What’s a sexuality crisis?”_

The two boys on the bed glance up from the laptop screen, and Mason’s suddenly grinning. “Why?” He asks, “Are you having one? ‘Cause if you are, the list would be _way longer—_ ”

“What? No!” Liam falls onto the bed, mattress bouncing underneath his weight, “Scott said Tracy Stewart _triggered Theo’s sexuality crisis_.”

Corey cringes, ducking his head down while Mason lets out a bark of laughter, “Oh my god, I forgot about that.”

“Forgot about what?”

“Before you transferred to Beacon Hills, Theo and Tracy were a thing,” Corey says, voice muffled from where it’s nestled into the blanket, “It was short-lived.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Mason snorts, “Apparently Theo couldn’t get it up in bed and she told just about everyone.”

Liam furrows his eyebrows, “That’s not _uncommon_.”

Corey suddenly pulls his head up, surprise written all over his face. He and Mason share a look before they’re both glancing back towards Liam. “Uh,” Mason blinks, “Are you saying you never got hard with Hayden?”

Liam’s face warms, “Wha— _I’m not going to tell you that!”_

Both boys are giving him looks as if they’re saying _there, there you little baby._ Liam’s still blushing, he can _feel_ the blood rushing all the way to the tips of his ears.

It’s not that he never got hard while with Hayden, because he _did_. When she’d reach down his pants, it would only take a few strokes to get him going. But during sex…

“I had to close my eyes,” Liam admits, “ _that’s all I’m going to tell you_.”

When he chances a look, his best friends are looking anywhere but at him. It’s only _majorly awkward_.

“What?” Liam narrows his eyes, because _it’s not that weird, okay?_

“ _Star Wars,”_ Corey cuts his boyfriend off before Mason could even open his mouth again, “Let’s… Let’s just keep watching and not talk about this.”

Liam receives a look from Mason that is a clear indication that a conversation about the topic is going to happen in the near-future, to which he sends a glare back that says _never_. Because the topic is never being discussed again.

 _Ever_.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanksgiving passes and then it’s December, which is filled with tests and extra sessions with tutors. It’s a hellish couple of weeks where Liam arrives home half-dead at ten every night, an extra two hours later than usual.

Then winter break starts, and Liam is so very glad when it does. He makes himself a few bags of popcorn and lounges around the livingroom in sweats, watching Netflix originals and reveling in the fact school doesn’t start for a long time.

Isaac gets wrapped into Liam’s _Super Cool Day of Relaxation_ when Liam decides to re-binge _Stranger Things_. The tall kid lingers in the doorway for a while, eyes flicking from the screen to Liam as though he’s asking for permission. Obviously, Liam waves him in— but throws in an eyeroll because this is Isaac’s house now, too. He doesn’t have to ask.

Scott and his buddies arrive a few episodes into season two, making enough noise that even _Isaac_ gets frustrated and barks at them to _shut up_. It’s so weird, hearing him shout, that Liam can’t hold back the snort of laughter as he hits pause. Isaac turns with a shy smile that morphs into a grin when Liam offers a high-five.

“Aw, man,” Stiles whines as he enters the livingroom, “You’re watching _Stranger Things?_ Scott! Isaac’s watching—”

“ _Noo_ ,” Scott huffs.

“Your jokes were stupid anyway,” Theo comments, shoving through the boys, “At least now Isaac will understand them.”

He sits in the empty space at the end of the couch but throws his feet up across Isaac and Liam’s laps, as though they weren’t even there. Liam raises his arms up awkwardly, not sure if he was supposed to lie his arms down on Theo’s thighs or not. As he’s distracted, a hand makes an attempt to take the remote.

Liam snaps out of his thoughts, raising the remote up and out of Theo’s reach. The other boy’s lips twitch, then all of a sudden an arm is sliding around the back of Liam’s neck and he’s yanked over. With a short yelp, he ends up in the mercy of Theo’s grip.

His face is pressed into a hard chest and his arm has dropped low enough for Theo to snag the remote with ease. “Thanks,” He snickers, much to Liam’s chagrin.

“Fuck you,” Liam picks up his head, glaring as he rests his chin on Theo’s chest.

For having another human being leaning on him, Theo doesn’t look to mind much— in fact he mostly just looks incredibly smug.

“ _God—_ ,” Stiles’ voice causes Liam to push himself up quickly, flushing. Palms pressed together, staring up, Stiles wails dramatically, “— _kill me_. Strike me down, _please_. I’m begging at this point.”

“Shut _up_ , Stiles,” Theo growls, hitting _play_.

 

-

 

Following the last episode, everyone retreats upstairs with the promise of video games. To Liam’s surprise, Theo doesn’t move from his spot on the couch—just continues to browse _Netflix_ movie listings. He doesn’t even take his legs off Liam’s lap, even though there’s room enough on the other side of the sofa to stretch out.

“Do you have any plans on the weekend?” Theo asks, eyes never once leaving the screen. He seems to be debating on which _Star Wars_ movie to play.

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Liam shifts nervously, side-eyeing Theo, “Why?”

At the look, Theo snorts and chooses _A New Hope_ , “Don’t make that face, you look stupid.”

Liam sputters, digging his nails into Theos’ thigh in a way that he hopes stings. It proves to work, because Theo’s eyes widen, and he makes an attempt to move away, eyes wide, but Liam closes his fingers around his leg, “ _Why_?”

Theo’s hands, which had previously been behind his head, now drop onto his lap, “Tara’s coming home this weekend and she’s throwing a party.”

Oh. Liam’s never been to a party, aside from kiddie birthdays. Which isn’t the type of party Theo’s talking about, obviously. Tara Raeken had been a party-throwing _god_ when she attended the highschool, so much so that her name is still a common word among seniors— which… she likely only invited them, considering she graduated a few years back and wouldn’t know anyone new.

“I mean,” Liam shrugs, “I _would_ come, but I won’t know anybody.”

Theo gives him a _look_ , “You’ll know _me_.”

Liam rolls his eyes, finally releasing Theo’s leg, “Yeah, because you’ll stick around with a _freshman_ for the entire party. I’m not stupid, Theo.”

“Yeah, you’re just dense.”

“What?”

Theo shrugs his shoulders, glancing off towards the television screen. It’s still playing the movie on mute.

“You can bring Mason and Corey, I don’t care.”

“You don’t care?”

“I don’t care.”

 

-

 

Everyone in Beacon Hills knows of the Raeken’s.

They’re the family that’s riddled with scandal—Parents who fight, hit and cheat on each other, yet never get a divorce. A son who is still remembered by members of the community as a little terror thanks to one fork incident in the fourth grade. A party-raving daughter who used her intellect to rise above the family, going to _NYU_ and escaping Beacon Hills.

So, it’s no surprise Liam’s father and Melissa say no to the boys going.

“We like Theo,” Liam’s father had said, “But we don’t like you going over to his house.”

Surprisingly, Scott doesn’t argue— just smiles and nods. Liam sulks, huffing as he stabs into his Sunday dinner. His first chance at an actual highschool party and he’s not allowed to go. Figures.

 

-

 

On Friday night, Scott scares the shit out of Liam as he barges into his room with Isaac in tow, grinning from ear to ear. “Did you think we were gonna let you miss your first party?”

“Wait, we’re going?” Liam sits up, “You convinced Melissa to say yes?”

Isaac snickers as Scott winces, “Um. Not exactly?”

 

-

 

They _sneak out_.

Liam nearly has a heart attack as they do so, especially when they’re half-way across the lawn and Scott bursts into laughter at something Isaac says. It’s so loud that Liam’s _sure_ someone inside must’ve heard it— but the front door never opens, nor is there angry parents shouting at them, so apparently all is well.

The Raeken house is huge, bigger than Liam could ever imagine. There are teens spilling out the door and chilling on the lawn— a scene that looks like it’s straight out of a movie. Liam hadn’t thought parties like this even existed outside of a set.

As they pass groups outside, people clap Scott on the shoulders and he beams in return, ever pleased for the attention. Sometimes Liam forgets how popular his step-brother has become after becoming captain of the lacrosse team. Isaac seems to have forgotten as well, judging by the way he awkwardly winces every time Scott pauses to say hello.

“Hey,” A girl grabs Liam’s wrist as soon as they get through the front door. She yanks him to the side so quick that he doesn’t even get to alert Scott and Isaac that he’s not behind them anymore.

Glancing back, Liam realizes that this girl is really pretty. She has dark brown hair and green eyes that are almost familiar, and here’s a smirk on her lips and— _oh_ , okay, this is totally Theo’s sister. When Liam voices this out loud, she just laughs and nods, “Yeah, that obvious, huh?”

“I mean,” Liam smiles sheepishly, “A little.”

“Oh man!” She exclaims, laughing, “You _are_ cute. How old are you, angel?”

“Sixteen,” A hand wraps around Liam’s wrist, and suddenly Theo’s at Liam’s side, “He’s practically a little kid, Tara, really?”

Again, Tara lets laughs freely. She looks so happy, as though she’s absolutely sparkling. Liam wonders for a moment if Theo looks like that when he’s ecstatic.

“ _Hellooo?”_ Tara snaps her fingers in Liam’s face and he glances back over, “If you could stop oogling my brother for a moment and give me a _yes_ , that would be great. _You only get two beers_ , okay, little guy?”

Liam nods. She gives him a thumbs up, then gives _Theo_ a thumbs up, before turning on her heel and prancing back into the party. Once she’s gone, Liam turns on Theo and exclaims, “Is everyone in your family rude? I’m not even _little_.”

Theo stops glaring in the direction his sister went off to, instead turning to raise an eyebrow in Liam’s direction, “ _I’m_ rude?”

“Yes. The rudest.”

“Hmm,” Theo begins guiding them towards the kitchen, “If I’m the rudest, then why’d you come?”

The kitchen is way quieter than the livingroom, so Liam doesn’t have to raise his voice to reply anymore. He shrugs his shoulders as he hops up on the counter closest to Theo, who goes straight into mixing them drinks, “I’ve never been to a party before. Not one like _this_.”

“ _One like this_ ,” Theo echoes as he hands Liam a red solo cup.

“One like this,” Liam agrees, slowly smiling.

 

-

 

If someone were to ask _how_ Liam got drunk, he’d first blame the drinks pretty girls were making him, then he’d place the ultimate blame on Theo, who went off to pair up with his sister in a game of beer pong.

It doesn’t take long for Liam to be slurring his sentences, because apparently he’s a lightweight. Liam ends up getting bolder with every drink, and by the eighth screwdriver and however many shots he’s taken, he’s falling onto a couch between two beautiful girls.

“Are Scott and Isaac winning?” He mumbles to the girl on the left, who raises an arm—allowing him to lean on her side. Liam takes advantage of this and lies his head down on her shoulder.

She scoffs, as though it’s the most moronic thing she’s ever heard, “Of course not, Tara’s the best.”

“She’s hot.”

“ _Theo’s_ hot,” She replies as though it’s a correction, “Look at his back. You can see the muscles moving each time he tosses, it’s amazing.”

Liam drags his eyes over from one Raeken to the next, and he _does_ notice how Theo’s back moves as he tosses the ball across the table. He’s wearing a tight, thin t-shirt, as though he _wants_ people to look.

It’s weird, Liam thinks, because he should feel _envy_ , but he doesn’t. Instead, he feels as though something’s digging under his skin, making him sweat. Is he about to throw up? Is this what happens when you drink?”

“Okaaay,” The girl to his right says, gently pulling him off his new friend. Even though the movement isn’t quick, the room still spins and oh shit, wait, no, _this_ is the feeling of about-to-vomit. Liam only _just_ makes it to the washroom in time to puke his guts out into the toilet.

And as if it’s not mortifying enough, Liam spares a glance between gagging to realize it’s _Lydia Martin_ holding his hair back.

“Oh, sweetheart,” She tuts as though he’s a baby, “You’re going to have _such_ a bad hangover.”


	6. Chapter 6

The December air bites Liam’s skin as he exits the Raeken house, a startling cold that’s shockingly sobering, yet does nothing to help with the upset stomach. Lydia’s speaking a million words a minute at his side, cell pressed between her shoulder and cheek, complaining about everything as she drags Liam down to the curbside.

He sits and almost cowers in on himself, head ducked low in an attempt to stop the shitty feeling in his stomach. It doesn’t help as much as he’d like, but Liam doesn’t feel the need to drop dead anymore, so he’d count it as some sort of win.

“Hey,” A familiar voice cuts through Lydia’s white-noise complaining.

“Nice babysitting job,” She says from off to the side, a sneered reply that makes Liam wince.

Someone crouches down in front of him, and Liam’s fairly relieved when he glances up to meet hazel eyes. Liam makes an attempt to smile slightly, “Did you win?”

Theo’s hair is all messy, unlike how put-together it’d been earlier. Now, it seems as though he’s been running his fingers through it and somehow, he looks better like this—all dishevelled.

“Yeah,” Theo’s eyes roam his face for a moment before snapping into eye-contact. He snorts, then, and comments, “You obviously didn’t, though.”

With a groan, Liam ducks his head once again. It’s embarrassing—his first party and he’s about to leave half-dead, and not even in a good way. If there’s a god out there, Liam hopes the being will bless him with a blackout so he can never think back to this night.

Fingers trailing across his forehead brings him back to the present. Theo tucks a few strands of hair behind Liam’s ear, movement slow and gentle. He’s smiling, seemingly amused by the predicament Liam’s gotten himself into.

“Scott and Isaac are leaving soon,” He says, voice quieter now. There’s a slight slur when he says _Isaac_ , and it’s then that Liam realizes the teen’s swaying slightly on his feet. It shouldn’t be surprising he’s drunk, as he’s played many games of beer pong, but Theo seems so put together.

Liam pushes himself to stand, but finds himself stumbling as soon as he’s upright. Theo catches him with ease, letting Liam kinda just hang off him, so the younger boy takes advantage of this and presses his forehead against Theo’s shoulder. He smells really good, like expensive cologne and deodorant and a bit like beer.

“You smell good,” He mumbles out loud, because he can. Because he feels comfortable in this little bubble they’re in.

There’s a moment after the words where Theo freezes up, and Liam’s so sure he’s about to be thrown to the ground, but then a hand is wrapping around his waist, fingertips digging into his hips. It’s then that Theo asks, “Do you want to stay the night?”

 

-

 

It’s not surprising that Theo’s bedroom is large, considering the size of his home. Liam doesn’t get a chance to snoop around though, because Theo drops him onto the bed and _oh_ , it’s really comfortable. Like, really, _really_ comfortable.

Liam begins wrestling out of his jeans, managing to get them down to his thighs before Theo turns from where he’s riffling through a drawer. He makes some sort of weezing noise, eyes wide as he exclaims, “You couldn’t wait until I’m out of the room?”

The jeans finally get kicked off and Liam starts on his t-shirt, sliding his fingers under the hem, “Why?”

“ _Why?_ Are you serious?”

“I have boxers on—”

“ _Only_ boxers.”

“If you’re going to make this such a big deal,” Liam tosses his shirt to the pile on the floor, “Then why are you still watching me take off my clothes?”

This time, Theo rolls his eyes so hard, Liam’s almost frightened they’re going to stick that way.

Liam pulls back the blankets, sliding underneath them as he situates himself on the bed. He’s way past caring about sharing a space like this with another guy—after all, he’s best friends with _what-is-personal-space?_ Mason. Theo, however, seems to hesitate. He holds the edge of the blanket, thumb circling the soft fabric as though he’s debating climbing in or not.

“Get in,” Liam grumbles, “and turn off the light. It hurts my brain.”

It’s enough to get Theo out of his thoughts, it seems. The other boy walks over and flicks the switch, casting the room into darkness, then snickers as he climbs in, “How can the light hurt your brain? You don’t have one of those.”

“Ha ha,” Liam says dryly, “Theo, you make the best jokes. You should write a book.”

They’re close, now. Warmth radiates off Theo as though he’s a furnace and it’s oddly comforting, Liam finds, sleeping with another person. He finds himself looking at Theo— at the way he looks soft under the moonlight seeping through the windows, face is pressed into the pillow, eyes shut, but grinning.

“You should write a book, too,” Theo opens his eyes, “You can title it _How to Embarrass Yourself in Front of Lydia Martin.”_

It breaks whatever spell Liam had been in. He glares and Theo laughs, breathless and bright.

 

-

 

Liam wakes to light streaming through open blinds and a piercing headache. He groans and nuzzles into his pillow to block out the sun, but his pillow is hard and warm and _oh yeah_.

The night comes back to Liam like an elastic snapping— all the drinking and throwing up and the whole slumber-party-with-Scott’s-friend thing. The whole sharing a bed with Theo thing. _Theo_ , who is indeed not a pillow, yet Liam’s holding him like one.

“’Morning,” Theo grumbles. He doesn’t seem to care about Liam’s arm around his waist, or that fact that he has a freshman breathing down his neck all night. Even so, Liam lets him go and moves back, extending the space between them.

As he does this, pain ripples through his head and oh, yeah, right. Hangover. Liam presses his face into the real pillow this time, groaning, “Head hurts.”

“No shit,” Theo rolls onto his back, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Now that Liam could see more than the back of his head, he notices the pink dusting his cheeks. For a moment, Liam takes pride in making that appear, then only feels slightly mortified for thinking that way.

Theo slips out of the bed, bones popping as he stretches, “Let’s get breakfast.”

He glances over his shoulder as he speaks and Liam groans, digging his face into the soft, inviting pillow again. Staying in this warm bed would be excellent, “Can’t we just sleep more?”

“ _We?”_ Theo says, and Liam’s eyes may be closed, but he could _hear_ the smirk, “You wanna cuddle again?”

Liam feels the blush coming, creeping up his neck. He growls out a cheap, “ _Fuck off_ ,” as he gets up.

 

-

 

By the time they go downstairs, the house has been cleaned up and there is zero remnants of the party. It’s as though nothing happened the night before. Liam’s beyond impressed at Tara’s cleaning skills.

Theo works quietly in the kitchen while Liam sits at the breakfast bar, drinking the glass of water that’s been placed before him. When he finally unlocks his phone, he’s bombarded by notifications, mostly from Mason.

 

  **[ 3:36am ] [ Mason ] :** You WENT?

 **[ 3:36am ] [ Mason ] :** SNAKE

 **[ 3:37am ] [ Mason ] :** YOU SAID YOU WERENT GOING

 **[ 3:37am ] [ Mason ] :** I had to find out from Erica's sc story :(

 **[ 3:37am ] [ Mason ] :** You were OUT OF IT!

 

 **[ 9:56am ] [ Mason ] :** Are you okay? Your dad just called and asked if you were still over here at my place.

 **[ 9:57am ] [ Mason ] :** Obviously I said you were BTW.

 

 **[ 2:26pm ] [ Mason ] :** LIAM

 **[ 2:26pm ] [ Mason ] :** A text alerting me you aren’t dead would be nice.

 

 **[ 2:42pm ] [ Liam ] :** i didnt even kno i was coming till like 1 am last nite lol

 **[ 2:42pm ] [ Liam ] :** sry i didnt tell u

 **[ 2:43pm ] [ Mason ] :** It’s okay. Where are you now, though? Because last time I checked, you’re not here, and apparently not at home.

 **[ 2:43pm ] [ Liam ] :** theos

 

Liam jumps as a plate is placed loudly on the table in front of him. He locks his phone and places it face-down on the table, stabbing his fork into the scrambled eggs. Across from him, Theo’s multitasking eating and scrolling effortlessly.

“Look,” He suddenly flips his phone around and Liam nearly groans when he sees it’s the Snapchat app. It says _Erica_ on the top left and this time Liam _does_ groan, shoving Theo’s arm away.

“I’m not watching that.”

“No wonder you were so drunk,” Theo’s snickering, “Erica was using you a labrat for new combos, and she doesn’t fuck around.”

Liam cringes and makes an attempt to swat the phone out of Theo’s hand. Theo must expect it, because he just swiftly moves out of the way without taking his eyes off the screen. _“Trial seventeen~”_ Erica exclaims from the speakers.

“ _Seventeen_ ,” Theo cackles, as though this is the best thing ever, “You just sat there and drank all of those drinks.”

He’s still enjoying himself, watching the videos and Liam suddenly feels an ache in his chest that doesn’t feel akin to anger, but still makes him want to throw a punch—

“Stop watching them,” Liam whines, stabbing his fork into the food, “And tell Erica to delete them!”


	7. Chapter 7

Christmas comes quickly. It’s a rush of snow falling and bins of mittens and scarves getting brought up from the basement. It’s Scott and Isaac nearly burning the house down in their attempt at making cookies, covering up the charred remains with brightly-colored frosting and sprinkles. It’s Stiles and his father coming over to have Christmas Dinner, bringing along holiday crackers that burst open before food is served, little trinkets dropping onto plates. Liam trades his mirror to Scott for a small bottle opener.

As he lies in his bedroom that night, full of turkey and giddiness that comes from the holiday spirit, Liam vaguely wonders what his friends were up to across town. Mason was probably at his grandparents, trying (and failing) to get his nan to understand how to work a computer. Corey was more than likely seated a few feet away, at Mason’s dinner table, playing Yahtzee with the family and getting tipsy off expensive wine, because now that they’re official they’re attached at the hip.

Finally, Liam thinks about what Theo’s doing. He wonders if the Raeken family put up a tree, as there wasn’t a single Christmas decoration when Liam was there last. They have a white Christmas Tree, most likely, decked out with over-priced white lights and golden tinsel, because Theo’s parents are rich and like to show as such. He imagines Theo sitting at the huge dinner table they have set up, Tara across from him and their parents on the other two sides, all laughing together while something cheesy like _White Christmas_ plays in the background on low volume, just like privileged people in the movies.

The next morning, when Liam trudges up the stairs to grab breakfast and sees Theo sleeping on the couch, arm slung across his face, he feels stupid.

A few weeks ago, Stiles had complained about spending _hours, man, literal hours_ at the mall, trailing after Theo in store after store in search of the perfect present for Tara. As Liam scribbles a _Merry Late Christmas, stupid_ , onto a sticky note, he hopes for excitement the night before, hopes that Tara loved her gift. He sets a plate of toaster-popped pancakes onto the coffee table and gently places the note on Theo’s arm, thumb sliding across the top to stick, and hopes Tara got Theo something perfect, too.

 

-

 

Lydia Martin’s _New Years Eve 2019 Bash!_ is like no other. There’s drunk teens mingling and Scott’s singing karaoke and people all over the place are taking selfies with huge new years glasses. Liam fidgets where he stands, up against the wall near the door with the rest of the lacrosse team, each member nursing drinks mixed by Malia.

His eyes flick to the entrance each time someone steps through.

Eventually, Lydia Martin walks up to the team, motions as flued as always, smiling as sweetly as she oh-so always does. But this time it’s in Liam’s direction, as in she’s staring at _him_ with some sort of glint in her eyes.

“Liam,” Her lipstick is bright red, “Could you run and get more mixers?”

It’s the first time her intense glance has been directed straight at him when he's sober, and Liam falters. The team are all standing up stick straight, now, as though that would attract Lydia’s attention. Liam almost snorts at their attempts, which must show as a smile on his lips because all of a sudden Lydia’s blowing him a kiss and saying, “Orange juice, cream soda and sprite,” over her shoulder as she enters back into the mass of people.

 

-

 

Entering a gas station at night was akin to stepping into a different universe, with bright lights that both illuminate the space and break the silence with the constant buzz, lulling the place into feeling sort of welcoming. Or creepy. Liam can’t decide which one. Either way, he grabs the drinks out of the coolers and brings the handful up to the counter, where the old employee gives him a raised eyebrow.

Twelve boxes are suddenly tossed upon the same counter, individual saranwrap cartons, then twelve more after that. Liam doesn’t even get time to complain before a body is pushing him aside slightly, Theo pressing up alongside, grinning as he begins to chat up the employee. The old woman indeed loves it, getting charmed almost immediately, blushing scarlet as she rings everything in together.

“What are you _doing?”_ Liam growls under his breath, but keeps a polite smile on his lips whenever the employee glances over from scanning. The boy beside him gives no hint, just checks him gently with a bony hip, which prompts Liam to whisper, “What. Are. You. Doing?”

Theo gifts him with a side-eye, this time, lips curled up on one side in a playful smirk.

“Revenge,” He shrugs, “Or something like that.”

Liam shifts on his feet for a moment, intrigued, but ends up spitting out a, “That’s stupid,” instead of _can I come_ , because Theo’s not his friend. He’s _Scott’s._

A bag is pressed into his chest, one that’s filled with sodas that he hadn’t paid for. As he wraps his arms around the cargo, staring at Theo’s retreating figure, he feels an overwhelming urge to reach out. To say _take me with you, I hate Lydia’s party , I keep waiting for you to walk in the door!_  But he doesn’t, he stands and adverts his eyes down, readying himself for the long walk back.

“God,” Theo rolls his eyes as he pulls open the door again, foot holding it open, “C’mon, you look like a lost puppy.”

 

-

 

Music blares through the truck’s speakers, bass boosted in such a way that Liam’s heart starts pumping and he could feel himself getting excited. Although Theo’s silent in the driver’s seat, he has a look of _about to fuck shit up_ that is somehow contagious, and soon even Liam can’t help but feel the same way. Maybe it’s the alcohol still in his system, or the way Theo taps his fingers to the beat of the song, but something makes Liam let out a bark of laughter, and even though another isn’t echo’d back, the corners of Theo’s lips quirk.

 

-

 

They saranwrap a car.

Liam drops his last box onto the ground, face nearly splitting he’s grinning so hard. Theo tosses his own box down and they look at each other, faces aching from smiling and eyes bright in the dim lighting. Right now, under the moonlight, Theo looks so fucking happy and fulfilled and _ecstatic_.

“What did you get for Christmas?” The question slips from Liam’s mind and out of his lips, breaking the silence they’ve had for most of the night. Theo doesn’t seem to mind though, that the spell is broken, and even glances over, grin blinding.

“Tara got me a new stereo system for the truck.”

Liam’s stuck in such a stupor that he nearly doesn’t duck when a flashlight illuminates the car. Theo gives him a hard shove to get him running, and soon they’re bolting from the scene, arms full of empty boxes, individual _oh shit, oh shit, ohshitohshit_ ’s sounding through the quiet street.

“Why did we do that?” Liam heaves out a few minutes later, once they’ve stopped running and are doubled over.

Theo laughs, still breathless and airy like before, and says, “That’s the guy my mom’s sleeping with,” as though he'd just explained the weather.


	8. Chapter 8

The remainder of Winter Break flies by in no time, until suddenly it’s the first day back to school. Naturally, Liam’s in a school-induced Horrible Mood when the beeping starts in the morning. He’s too tired to complain out loud with anything more than a grunt, but there’s a spark of energy coursing through his veins for the sole purpose of slamming his hand down on his poor alarm clock.

With a similar slam an hour later, Liam closes his locker. It reveals a sight that was previously hidden, one that brought the familiar prickle of annoyance. Nolan was leant up against the row of lockers near Hayden, who was fixing her hair in the little magnetic mirror she had hung up on the door. Once, there were photos of her and Liam next to it. Now, there were polaroids scattered across the empty space.

Liam raises an eyebrow at that, because although he knew she had the right camera, Hayden had always expressed her hatred for the cliché pictures. He, on the other hand, always kinda liked them. The way they looked taped to the wall was cool. Isaac’s room is filled with them, especially after getting packets and packets of film for Christmas. Over the tail-end of the break, he’d wasted so much of said film taking pictures of the family. Mostly Scott, but there were a lot of Stiles, too. Liam remembers glaring as the flash went off in his own face once, and just like Liam’s singular shot, there was only one of Theo hung up on Isaac’s wall. It was, truthfully, really bad. Theo was hungover and looked a complete trainwreck, middle-finger held up to the camera.

A hip slams into the locker in front of Liam, scaring the living shit out of him. As he eyes narrow in Mason’s direction, the other boy laughs loud and airy, “This is a day I never thought I’d see.”

“Huh?”

“Well,” There it is: the shit-eating grin Liam _hates_ , especially when it’s directed at him, “You know how I am. Always watching and all that. Well, usually you look over there as if Hayden just, like, _murdered your parents_. But just now,” He shrugs, “You didn’t even look bothered. You were _smiling_.”

Liam rolls his eyes and makes an attempt to escape the conversation by turning tail. His best friend easily catches up, suddenly at his side, matching Liam’s stride easily.

“I’m proud of you, I really am, but what happened? _Oh my god_ , did you—”

The bell rings, effectively cutting Mason’s sentence off, and the hallways begin to get overcrowded and loud as students file away to class. As the boys walk side-by-side to chem, Liam foolishly thinks for a few minutes that he’s escaped the question. Literally got saved by the bell.

But then, shortly after the late bell rings and they’re seated, a paper ball hits the side of his head.

 _Did you meet someone?!_ is written in Mason’s perfect hand writing.

 

-

 

Math fucking _sucks_. An obvious statement, but Liam really, really, _really_ hates it, and hates his teacher for handing out homework on the first day back from break.

He’s erasing an incorrect answer when commotion sounds right outside his window. Taking whatever distraction he could get, Liam spins in his computer chair to glance out, slowly crossing his arms against his chest when the screen slides open.

A duffle bag comes first landing on his bed, then Theo slides through the small frame shortly after. He looks a bit worse for wear, with bags under his eyes and greasy hair. Then, as though he had the right to judge looking like _that_ , he wrinkles his nose and states, “Your room’s a mess.”

Liam raises a brow, “What are you doing?”

“Came to camp out with Scott,” Theo picks up the book sitting on Liam’s bedside table, “Why do you have a book on lycanthropy?”

He’s flipping through the book now, but Liam could tell his eyes weren’t skimming the pages, even on those that had pictures. It’s weird.

Abandoning his homework Liam stands and crosses the room, taking the book and tossing it onto the bed. Theo seems to be gritting his teeth, now, eyes cast over Liam’s shoulder. Up close, Liam could only describe this boy as _sleep deprived_. Either that or he died and came back as a zombie.

“Hey,” Liam starts, “Are you okay?”

Theo’s fingers curl into fists and hazel eyes snap up to meet Liam’s. A withering glare is set in his direction and with a sneer, Theo spits out, “Does it _look_ like it?”

“ _No_. That’s why I’m fucking asking.”

The staredown that ensues only lasts a few seconds before Theo turns, grabs his duffel off the bed and makes for the door. Without a thought, Liam reaches foreword and grabs his wrist, grip tightening when Theo tries to pull away.

“It’s a school night,” Liam says, “and my dad’s still awake. It’s only nine.”

After the words leave his lips, the room is coated in silence that isn’t exactly comfortable. It’s just _quiet_ , which might be worse. Theo hasn’t moved, hasn’t turned around to bark something rude or break Liam’s nose again.

Slowly, Liam slides his hand down until his thumb rested against Theo’s pulse, as if it would tell him something.

“You can stay here, if you want. I’m not Scott, but—”

It seems to hit a nerve, because Theo’s turning all of a sudden, “Why? Because you feel bad?”

“Yeah,” Liam replies without hesitation, “You look like you haven’t slept in _days_.”

Theo takes his arm back and walks back over towards the window. But he doesn’t exit like Liam expects him to do, just drops his duffle on the floor and falls backwards on the bed without a word.

The thing is, Liam’s stupid but he’s not _stupid_ stupid. He knows that something must’ve happened during Christmas, because after the holiday, more often than not he’ll wake up to find Theo sleeping on the couch. Or he’ll hear the ladder outside his window get picked up and propped against the house around midnight.

Liam knows something’s up, and wonders if it has to do with Theo’s mother cheating. Wonders if it has something to do with their New Years charade. Wonders if it has to do with the exams that are coming up. Wonders if Theo’s been staying over because he feels lonely in his huge empty house.

Wonders why he cares so much about _Scott’s_ friend.

“I’m so fucking tired,” Theo grunts, “So turn off the fucking light.”

Liam does, and his math homework is left forgotten among the wave of wonder.


	9. Chapter 9

One sleepover (is that even what he should be calling it? Liam has zero clue.) turns into two, then three.

Really, Liam doesn’t know why the _hell_ he’s letting this irritable dickhead stay over. Has zero clue why, by day three, he start his homework _early_ just so he’d get it finished by the time Theo arrives. He even catches himself sliding open his window on the one week mark and ponders if he just hates himself deep down.

Theo shows up at the exact same time every single night, sliding in through the window uninvited and bitching for the lights to be turned off. After that, there’s no more talking besides complaints from the grumpy intruder. _Turn it down_ , he’ll say if Liam’s watching videos on his phone, or _Shut up_ if Liam gets a call from Mason.

(That last one has happened _twice,_ each time more embarrassing as the last, to say the least. Now, Mason makes it a Thing to question Liam at lunch, asking  _how’s Theo_ , then after Liam goes on a rant, asks, _if you’re so annoyed by him, why do you let him stay?_

Liam always changes the subject, because he has no fucking clue.)

Sometimes, when they’re laying side-by-side in the bed, consumed by the quiet darkness, there’s questions that come to mind that Liam opens his mouth to ask, but never actually does. He doesn’t want to push, doesn’t want Theo to up and leave just because Liam asks something simple like _why?_

On the night that marks two weeks, Liam holds out papers in Theo’s direction as soon as the boy’s feet hit the floor.

“Your rent,” He says, “You need a place to sleep, I need help with math.”

There’s no arguing like Liam expects, just Theo taking the papers and looking them over. Then, he turns one sheet and gives a stare that blatantly says _you’re so fucking stupid_.

“This,” He says, pointing to the one question on the sheet that Liam actually worked out, “Is the easiest question to answer on the entire sheet, and somehow you got it completely wrong.”

 

-

 

They slip into a new routine.

Theo doesn’t bitch about the lights anymore. Instead, he bitches at Liam about wrong answers and wrong formulas and _Jesus, Liam how can you be this fucking stupid?_ He’s a terrible math tutor, Liam finds out quickly. Not because Theo doesn’t know the answers, because as much as it annoys Liam to say so, Theo’s kind-of a math genius. It’s because there’s not an ounce of patience inside of Theo’s body.

But they get through the homework every night, and there’s a B- stamped on Liam’s next quiz, so it must be working.

 

-

 

Dinner is boxed mac and cheese, because both Melissa and Liam’s dad are both out working late and it’s all Liam really knows how to cook. He ends up making more when Scott and his friends storm the house, and they all sit at the table once it’s cooked like some sort of fucked up family.

Stiles shoves food into his mouth in a way that destroys Liam’s appetite, so the remaining food on his plate gets transferred to Theo’s. In return, he gets a sliver of a smile, the corner of Theo’s lips quirking slightly. Something washes through Liam, and he finds himself ducking his head.

Then Stiles coughs, choking on his food. Four pairs of eyes settle on him as he chugs his glass of water, eyes trained on Liam all of a sudden.

“Oh god,” Stiles manages, “Oh god, you’re contaminated. Scott, did you see—”

Scott visibly winces, “I saw.”

“Saw what?” Isaac asks, fork half-way to his mouth.

“Yeah,” Liam furrows his brows, “Saw what?”

“Stiles,” beside him, Theo stabs down with his fork with too much force. The _clank_ is loud in their small dining room, “Shut _up_.”

“I’m still confused?” Isaac blinks, eyes darting from one person to the next.

Stiles is smirking, waving his fork around as he says, “Nothing. Nothing at all. Theo’s just a little—”

Scott’s eyes widen, and just as Stiles is about to say something else, he flings a forkful of food. It hits Stiles straight in the face, leaving him sputtering and yelling in Scott’s direction. At the sudden raise of volume directed at Scott, Isaac flings food at Stiles, too, and then it’s a big thing between the three of them and, yeah, this is Liam’s time to exit before he gets food caked in his hair.

He flees to the kitchen and begins to clean up, tossing the pot and his plate into the dishwasher to avoid getting bitched at by his dad later. There more commotion in the dining room, then the boys all dart out to beat one another to the bathroom, likely to rid themselves of the gross outcome of their little food fight.

Scott doesn’t look too bad as he enters the kitchen with a stack of plates in hand. There’s a bit of orange in his hair, a splatter of the artificial color on his cheek. He turns to leave after putting everything in the dishwasher, but Liam speaks up.

“Um,” He doesn’t exactly know how to tackle this, so he decides on just being blunt, “Theo’s been barging into my room every night.”

Scott stops and turns, but doesn’t look at Liam. He just starts blushing, which is _not_ what Liam expected.

“Uh, good for you?”

Scott doesn’t say anything else, just stands there awkwardly.

“What?” Liam furrows his brows, “Are you not worried about him?”

“Should I be?”

They have some sort of stare down in the middle of the kitchen, each looking just as confused as the other. Usually, Scott’s super overprotective of his friends, always the first one to sense when somethings up with Stiles, or when somethings eating at Isaac.

“He looks like _shit_ ,” Liam spells out, because Scott’s still not speaking, “Like he’s stressed. He hasn’t been home in so long that he’s taken over one of my drawers with his clothes.”

“Oh,” Scott blinks, then blinks again, “ _Oh!_ I was thinking you meant, like, something _entirely different_. Um, this happens a lot. His parents kick him out for a few weeks and he usually stays in Isaac’s room.”

“You’re not worried about him?”

Scott hums, shaking his head, “Of course I am, dude! Theo’s gonna give me grey hairs, I worry about him so much. But it’s a constant, something that I’m always expecting, you know? Why do you think the ladder out back exists?”

Liam leans back against the counter, fingers gripping into the marble, “If the ladder’s there, then why’s he staying in _my_ room?”

The look on Scott’s face turns soft, and he tilts his head to the side slightly.

“Liam,” He smiles, “Why do you _think?”_


	10. Chapter 10

Not a single fucking clue. Liam’s got no fucking idea what Scott had meant.

He lies in bed that night with a warmth pressed up against his side, staring up at his ceiling lost in thought. He thinks and think and think, searching his brain for the answer but doesn’t fucking _get it_. It comes to a point where Liam closes his eyes and wonders why the hell he even cares in the first place.

Theo’s not his friend. He’s _Scott’s_ , a point he’s always drilled into his brain. Just like Mason’s his, Theo’s _Scott’s_.

“Shut up,” Theo grunts beside him when Liam sighs.

 

-

 

Following the answer to the last question on Liam’s sheet getting scribbled in, Theo stands up and says, “We’re going to a party.”

Liam barks out a sarcastic laugh, “Uh, no.”

“Why not?”

He levels Theo with a _look_ , “You always ditch me.”

“Idiot,” Theo rolls his eyes, “There was no ditching on my end, last party. Your drunk ass left _me._ ”

It’s pretty much true. Liam groans in defeat, “Who’s?”

“Some Davenford kid.”

Theo stands from where he’d been seated on the bed and stretches. There’s a sliver of skin that is visible when his t-shirt rises up, tanned and warm-looking. Then he leans back, bones popping, and Liam wrinkles his nose at the sound, tossing his eraser at the exposed skin of his stomach.

Unamused, Theo catches it and lobs it back, hitting Liam right in the neck. “Hey!”

Theo’s rummaging through the closet now, and ends up stepping back with a grey hoodie in his hands. It’s Liam’s lacrosse sweater, _DUNBAR_ written across both the sleeve and the back. He pulls it over his head, then raises a brow and asks, “What?” when he sees Liam’s narrowed eyes.

 _Who gave you permission to wear my clothes?_ Liam wants to ask, _Who even are you?_

“Why would you wanna go to one of _their_ parties?” Liam asks instead, “They’re our _rivals,”_

“God,” As he reaches up to pull open the window, Theo rolls his eyes, “Your school spirit is gross.”

“ _You’re gross_ ,” Liam grumbles, but stands up and follows him out the window anyway.

 

-

 

Theo ditches Liam.

It’s not surprising— Liam _knows_ that Theo did it on purpose to fuck with him because of their conversation earlier. Even if it is just a joke, it’s still annoying. Now Liam’s alone in a house with people who probably know who he is, since their lacrosse teams rivalry was something of a Big Deal.

Relief washes over him when he walks into the kitchen and his eyes find Erica’s. She gets real excited when she sees him, calling him _honey_ and automatically going off to mix him drinks. Liam follows behind her like a puppy, accepting the red solo cup she offers with a smirk.

In hindsight, a few drinks in, it’s not the best idea. He’s pretty drunk, now. Not as bad as he got at Tara’s party, but enough alcohol was in his body to make him feel hot.

Through the door, Liam spots Brett easily— the big dumb jock sitting on the couch in the living room among other big dumb jocks. When their eyes lock, Liam glares because they’re _rivals_ and that’s just what rivals do. They glare from far away and shoulder check each other when they’re within range. It’s common knowledge.

A new drink getting poured into his cup breaks their stare-off, and Liam turns towards Erica as she continues to pour different juices in. He swishes the drink. It’s green, somehow, but it tastes decent when he takes a swig. He gives a thumbs up, and Erica in turn looks incredibly smug.

“I call that,” She grins, “A _Liam Dunbar is About to Get Laid_.”

Someone places a hand on the small of his back, and Liam leans into it, “Theo, Erica made—uhh.”

“Hi,” Brett grins.

 

-

 

For the second time in his life, Liam gets _drunk_ drunk.

The air outside is cold, so there’s not many people out on the deck. The exception is Liam and Brett, who occupy the stairs near the door, pressed together side-by-side and talking about stupid lacrosse things. They’re both laughing, hyped up off the drinks they’re both trying to keep from spilling as they catch their breath.

Liam glances over in Brett’s direction, eyes raking over his face. He’s not as bad as Liam had thought— kind of funny, actually, which is a surprise.

Brett leans over, setting his cup on the concrete next to him, then gently takes Liam’s and places it there, too. “Hey, man, I’m prob’ly gonna kiss you.”

“…Kiss me?” Liam furrows his brows, because did he hear that correctly?

“Yeah.”

It’s awkward, because they’re situated on the stairs, but Brett leans in like he doesn’t give two shits about anything else. For some reason Liam lets him, studying other boy’s face as he comes closer. It’s not a horrible face, it’s actually— Brett’s kinda _hot_ up close when he’s not being mean—

Their lips press together, then Brett’s sliding a tongue across Liam’s bottom lip and then they’re suddenly _frenching_. A hand rests on Liam’s jaw to bring him closer and one of his own hands land on a strong thigh. It makes something stir in Liam’s stomach.

“Oh _shit_. _”_

Liam jumps, nearly headbutting Brett as he puts distance between them. Standing a few feet away is Hayden, who’s got _surprise_ spread across her features as she yelps out a, “Sorry!”

“’Sup?” Brett asks her, but her backs already turned and she’s walking off.

“ _Hayden_ ,” Liam pushes himself up, stumbling slightly as he jogs to catch up with her quick pace. He reaches out, fingers curling around her wrist, “Please, let me—”

“It’s okay, Liam, it’s okay!” She’s smiling, “But _Brett_ , really?”

Liam takes a step back, eyes beginning to narrow because who was _she_ to judge him, “You can’t talk!” He exclaims, “You’re with _Nolan!”_

“He’s _nice!”_

“He’s a _loser!”_ Liam shoots back, “He and his little friends kicked the shit out of me! Wait, is that why you—”

“ _No_ , god,” Hayden reaches up to pinch the bridge of her nose, “I didn’t break up with you because you got beat up, I broke up with you because you didn’t love me as much as I loved you.”

Startled, Liam blinks a few times before slowly going, “But you said…”

“On that night, if I had told you the truth, you would’ve objected and then push yourself to love me. I didn’t want that,” Hayden looks away, “You’ve never loved me, not really. It didn’t take long for me to figure that out.”

“I…”

“You loved me in the same way you loved Mason. Don't lie, because it's so obvious, in hindsight. You didn't even try to get me back."

Liam grits his teeth, scoffing his foot off the grass, “I _wanted_ to _love_ -love you.”

Hayden laughs dryly, “I know you did.”

It’s silent between them, the only sounds being the music and laughter from the party. Liam watches his ex-girlfriend through his eyelashes as she composes herself, acting as strong as ever. Finally, her shoulders fall and she exhales, “Did you at least get with Theo?”

“Theo?”

Hayden clicks her tongue as she rolls her eyes, “Yes, _Theo_. Who do you think helped me come to the realization of your feelings?”

Liam blinks, utterly confused, “I barely knew Theo when we broke up.”

“I know,” Hayden crosses her arms against her chest, “It’s creepy. He came up to me and spewed some shit.”

“What did he say?”

Hayden looks annoyed now, “What do you _think_ _?_ It’s so obvious what he said, Liam, and it’s kinda sad you can’t even see it. Connect the dots.”

Liam can’t help but feel the familiar prickling feeling. It digs under his skin, burns like a fire through his veins as the anger flares up. He tries to keep himself in check, curling his fingers into fists, nails biting into his skin. His problem is that he _can’t_ connect the dots with this, just like he couldn’t with Scott’s _Why do you think?_ “What did he say?”

“Liam, calm down, you’re _drunk_ and getting angry won’t—”

“ _What did he say?”_ He growls, then, when she doesn’t reply, “He doesn’t know _anything_ — _”_

“He really likes you,” Hayden’s voice is soft, now, gentle, “ _Likes_ likes you.”

It’s like he’s just been hit with a truck.

Liam feels hot all over, now, waves of heat that wash over his body, and not just because of the dissipating anger. It’s a weird feeling, spreading through his core all the way to the tips of his ears and down his fingers.

"He pointed everything out to me," Hayden bares her teeth in a grimace, “Ugh, I feel bad for confessing Theo’s feelings when he’s not even here.”

Liam's head is spinning, and bile rises up his throat as he gets overwhelmed by the combination of everything happening— kissing a boy and seeing Hayden and the revelation of Theo apparently having a goddamn _crush_ on him.

“I think,” Liam stumbles, “I think I’m gonna puke.”

Which he does, right in a rose bush as Hayden awkwardly rubs his back, saying, "Everything's going to be fine."

Probably not, but at least Liam knows what Scott had meant, now.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are highly appreciated!


End file.
